Hey, quit bitching -- it's not called Operation Kurdish Freedom, is it?

US assures Turkey it will replace Kurdish forces in oil-rich Kirkuk

Turkey said it had won a pledge from the United States to send reinforcements to Kirkuk to replace Kurdish fighters who captured the strategic oil-rich city in northern Iraq.

The assurance came after Ankara threatened to send troops to the region if Kurds were allowed to take control of Kirkuk and northern Iraq's other major city Mosul, a move that could encourage them to declare independence.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell gave the pledge after US and Kurdish forces entered Kirkuk earlier Thursday following a popular uprising in the city, Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said.

"He said they would send new US forces to Kirkuk in a few hours. They will take out those who have entered," Gul told reporters after speaking by telephone with Powell....

--Agence France-Presse

(Thanks to Leonard for the link.)